It was a normal day. Well, as normal as it could be. All things considered, it was a typical day. Sometimes, when you get so good at something, you tend to forget the initial risks of the job. You're good at overcoming those risks; those odds of survival. When you're good, you get confident. When you're confident, you're sloppy.

Today these crime fighting duo were battling another poor akuma-ridden human. What his real name is, they don't know. Now, he's Scorpio. And he's the toughest one yet. A cross between a scorpion and a man, Scorpio has the torso of a man with the tail and claws of a sleek, hard scorpion. Half man, half scorpion, full-on beast.

Twice already Ladybug and Chat Noir had to recharge their Miraculous Stones as they heard the city scream below them. They were run ragged with exhaustion, their kwami barely able to move. On the third time, Ladybug almost couldn't transform. Almost.

"Chat!" She called from the circular bag that's always hung from her hips. "I can't take this much longer, we have to stop Scorpio!"

"I agree, my lady," Chat Noir was saying as he leapt from a nearby roof and landed next to her, his stride never breaking as he ran easily beside her. "But he's tough! That scorpion shell of his won't break no matter what we've done. Plus, we have no idea where the Akuma is!"

"We have to keep trying! The city's burning because of him!" Ladybug leapt over an air duct and came to a halt just inches off a ledge of a building overlooking the square. She watched Scorpio from above with narrowed eyes, at the chaos he was wreaking. People screamed and scrambled to get out of his way, the square in pandemonium. "Chat, please distract him from those people while I try to find his Akuma."

Chat Noir nodded and vaulted off the ledge, pulling his baton out as he did so. When he landed on the ground, he called out to Scorpio, to call attention to him and not the civilians but was unheard over the chaos so Chat ran up to Scorpio and tried to sweep his legs from under him. The thing about scorpions is, many legs. On a positive note, he managed to detract Scorpio's attention from the civilians. Narrowly, Chat managed to avoid getting swiped by one of the massive black pincers. Once or twice he did get caught, but he slipped out of Scorpio's grasp as fluid as a cat.

Ladybug watched carefully from above, trying to find Scorpio's weak spots. His torso was bare, devoid of any jewellery or accessories, stumping her. "Is it possible for Akuma to melt into skin?" she suddenly thought out loud. Overcome with her idea, she called out to Chat Noir. "Chat!"

Chat slunk into the bushes as soon as she called, out of sight. Ladybug scanned from above, concerned that she'd lost sight of him. She ducked behind the ledge when Scorpio swung around to face her, reluctant to engage in a head-on battle with him without Chat. "Where is he?" she muttered, peeking over the ledge again.

"You rang, my lady?"

She jumped when Chat Noir appeared behind her. Quickly, she placed a hand on his elbow and pulled him down to a crouch next to her.

"I didn't know running and hiding was our style nowadays," he commented wryly, shooting her a grin.

She rolled her eyes in response. "I prefer to call it restrategising."

He only grinned wider in response. "So have you found out where the Akuma is?" he asked as he peeked over the ledge as well.

Ladybug shook her head. "He's not wearing any jewellery. Nor accessories."

"I realise that, I've been fighting him down there."

"I fought him too," she retorted. "None of my Lucky Charms seem to work on him. So I was wondering, is it possible for the Akuma to melt into bare skin?"

Chat was quiet as he mulled it over, his eyes squinting. "We haven't met one so far. But it makes sense. He's far meaner and far tougher than anything we've faced before. Maybe absorbing the Akuma directly does this. Now, the next question; how do we get the Akuma?"

"I realised something," Ladybug began. "He seems to be using his right hand a lot, isn't he? Like he isn't used to using his left hand. No, more like he isn't used to having a left hand. You fought him down there, you should know this," she tilted the corner of her mouth teasingly.

Chat gulped, flustered. "It was a lot of claws and poisonous tail, is what I remember," he said defensively.

This time, she grinned wider for a fraction of a second before turning serious again. "Chat, I need you to use your Ancient Destruction on his left claw."

He spluttered. "What? Are you crazy?"

"Please, Chat. I'm thinking that's where the Akuma is. That's how we can end all of this."

"But if you're wrong, I could accidentally amputate him!"

"If," she tried placating him.

"A big if!"

"Please," Ladybug tried again.

For a long moment, he only stared at her, his face pained. He bit his lip, uncertainly at first, then chewed on it nervously. "Fine," he conceded. "I can't do a thing with you looking at me like that, anyway. Come on. This time, you distract him."

Ladybug nodded in response and together, they vaulted over the ledge. Landing neatly on the ground, they chased after Scorpio. Ladybug threw her bag at an overhanging branch and swung over him so she could meet him head-on and distract him so that Chat Noir could have an opening for his Ancient Destruction. In no time, she was dodging the massive pincer. Not to mention the tail.

"Ancient Destruction!" Chat yelled out and quickly sprinted to Scorpio. He leapt up and lightly on Scorpio's back, swiping his hand on Scorpio's left claw in one fluid movement.

Scorpio let out a mighty wail, folding inwards to himself as his hand rusted over and crumbled into dust on the ground, the purple Akuma floating serenely out of it. He thrashed around and Chat could only hold on as he yelled out.

Seeing her chance, Ladybug quickly caught the Akuma and released it, the purple Akuma now white and pure again. "Chat, we did it!" she called out, gleeful. She turned around to face him. "Chat!" she cried out in alarm when she noticed his prone body.

Scorpio's body dissolved, leaving behind a thin man with a huge scorpion tattoo across his back with a stump of a left arm. The stinger was the last to dissolve, its tip pierced into Chat's back.

Ladybug ran to his side and crouched down. "Chat! Chat, are you okay?" Hands trembling, she carefully turned him over. He groaned weakly. "Chat!" Relief coloured her words and she smiled widely.

"My lady," he groaned, his lips turning blue and numb. "Did it work?"

"Shh, don't try to talk just yet." Ladybug tried to place a hand on his lips but stopped dead when she noticed how red her hand is. A different kind of red, dark and slick. Numbly, she ran the tips of her fingers against one another, feeling the slickness. Her hands shook harder and bile rose up her throat. "Let me call an ambulance."

Chat shook his head. "I probably should've stretched first; my back is killing me," he slurred, trying to make her smile. A smile of exhasperation, a smile of pretense. Anything than the look she was giving him right now. He took her hand. "Please don't cry. I miss your smile."

"I can't help it," she tried to smile this time, her tears falling hard and fast, soaking her mask. "Chat, don't go," she pleaded, without fully knowing as to where he might be going. "Please let me just call an ambulance."

"No time." He chuckled weakly. "You said that to me when we were fighting Flipper, remember? 'No time.' It kind of fits now."

Ladybug shook her head hard enough to see stars. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that. You're going to be okay."

"Ladybug... I'm cold." He held out a hand and she quickly grasped it in both her own. He shook his head and she dropped her hands. He put a gloved hand on her cheek and slowly stroked it. "You're so beautiful, my lady. So very beautiful."

"Chat..." She couldn't stop her tears, she had no idea why. He was Chat Noir, the black cat with bad luck. Her fighting partner and occasional goofball. "Don't go, please. I need you, Chat."

He smiled. "Don't cry, my lady." His voice trailed off as his ring and her earrings pinged. Both their transformations wore off and Marinette gasped at the boy she held.

Adrien. Impossible. Golden Adrien with the mischievous smile. But then again, not really impossible. Reverently, she touched the place where his cat ears were, stroking his golden hair, so soft to the touch. How she'd dreamt of this moment of running her fingers through his hair like this. No, she corrected herself. Not like this. Never like this. She lay a hand gently on his cheek, smearing it slightly. She placed his hand on her heart, so he will know how fast it beats for him, even if she couldn't trust herself to speak anymore. She felt his shallow breathing and matched hers with his, until his slowed to a halt and she couldn't hold her breath any longer.

"I will keep this secret, mon amour," she choked out, her sobs tearing her throat as she bent forward and placed her forehead on his cooling one. "Even between you and me, I will keep it."